MORTGAGE LENDER AMERIQUEST TO PAY $325M
January 24, 2006
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State prosecutors and lending regulators in 49 states and the District have reached a wide-ranging $325 million settlement with Ameriquest Mortgage Co., the nation’s largest lender to home-loan borrowers with poor credit, to resolve allegations that the company defrauded and misled consumers, the Washington Post reported today. It is the second-largest consumer protection settlement in U.S. history, following the $484 million predatory lending agreement reached in 2002 with Household Finance Corp. The Orange, Calif.-based company has also agreed to major changes in how it does business. More than 240,000 U.S. consumers will benefit from the settlement to make up for losses they suffered after getting loans from Ameriquest, and they will receive a minimum of $600 each, prosecutors said. In the agreement, Ameriquest denies all the allegations raised by the states. Read more
